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a tribute to coach liz

Peninsula High School dive coach Rob Nichols and swim team coach Craig Brown, are doing their best to carry on for former dive coach Liz Litsch who lost her battle with cancer this September.

Rob, who is also Senior Director of Research & Development at Allovus, was hand-picked by Liz to take over the dive team after her health took a turn for the worse.

An article in The News Tribune stated, “The torch has been passed down. Forty-four-year-old Rob Nichols, who dove for Litsch at Peninsula during her first year as a coach, is now the diving coach for Peninsula and Gig Harbor. When Litsch phoned Nichols and asked him to take the program over, Nichols couldn’t say no.

‘It was sort of immediately clear diving was going to be the sport for me,” Nichols said. “Not because I showed a lot of talent, but just because of how she introduced us to it early. Diving there just became what I did. That was the focus of my high school (career).’”

The News Tribune

For Liz’s memorial, Rob and Allovus Founder and Principal Hayley Nichols, worked together to put the final touches on the celebration of Litsch’s life. As a tribute to the former dive coach, Swim coach Craig Brown repurposed her old diving table to build a permanent display to honor her 29 years of coaching for Peninsula High School.

The News Tribune quoted Craig in a brief statement. “’Even though she was gone, I wanted Liz to still be part of the program,” Brown said. “I want her to always be looking at the diving board, whether she’s here or not. That made her really happy before she passed away.’”